Liberals railroad others for their own bad decisions on UP Express: NDP

NDP Urban Transit critic Cheri DiNovo (MPP for Parkdale - High Park) asked the Liberal government to explain why the president of the Union Pearson Express is taking the fall for bad decisions made by the Liberal government when Kathleen Wynne was Minister of Transportation.

“We need a history lesson here. Six years ago, the Premier, who was then the Minister of Transportation, ordered Metrolinx to take over the UP Express after the private partner dropped out of the project because they knew it wouldn’t make any money,” said DiNovo. “Even so, the Premier ordered Metrolinx to implement the same flawed business model.”

Kathy Haley, who resigned this week after months of disappointing ridership, was hired as president of the Union Pearson Express a year after Wynne made the decision to ignore critics of the government’s “exclusive boutique express service.”

“When the private partner dropped out in 2010, the Premier, who was then the Minister of Transportation, could have fixed this problem. She could have changed the UP Express into a true public transit service with affordable fares, more stations and more public access. She could have electrified it from the start,” said DiNovo. “This is what the public has always demanded and wanted. Instead, she forced Metrolinx to build what her government wanted.”